HONG KONG — Japan said Tuesday that it would sharply increase its nonmilitary aid to Afghanistan, pledging $5 billion for projects that include building schools and highways, training police, clearing land mines and rehabilitating ex-Taliban fighters.
The announcement of the new aid package, which is to be disbursed over the next five years, comes just days before the arrival of President Barack Obama in Japan. Obama is due to arrive Friday in Tokyo, his first stop on a week-long visit to Asia.
The ministry’s statement on Tuesday said that the “containment of insurgencies is essential” to achieving security in Afghanistan and pledged that “Japan will pave the way for the Afghans to take their own security responsibilities . . . ” The New York Times
